Threading DNA electrically through nanometer-sized pores, so-called
nanopores,
holds promise for detecting and sequencing DNA (see Nov
2005 and Oct
2004
highlights).
Nanopore measurements tend to be the more sensitive the smaller the pores are.
The material graphene, which is just one atom thick and looks like a
two-dimensional ``honeycomb" made up of carbon atoms, offers the ultimate
physical resolution for measuring DNA (the stacking distance between
base-pairs in DNA is about 0.35 nm). As reported recently, molecular dynamics
simulations using NAMD revealed the motion of DNA being threaded through
graphene nanopores at atomic level resolution. Simulations not only agree
qualitatively with previous experiments on DNA translocation through graphene
nanopores, but go one step further than the experiments and suggest how
individual base pairs can be discriminated. The recent computational study is
one further example for the guidance
that molecular dynamics simulations provide in nanosensor development (see a
recent review).
More
information can be found on our graphene
nanopore website.